CHICAGO: Though there are only a handful of them among thousands of delegates, the “Uncommitted Movement” delegates at the Democratic National Convention are among the most vocal.
The delegates plan to voice their discontent with the war in Gaza at the party’s convention this week in Chicago, during which Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic Party’s nomination in the close race for the White House.
The 30 “Uncommitted Movement” delegates hail from eight different US states and claim to represent some 700,000 voters.
Though they welcomed the news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the race on July 21, they have met Harris’s subsequent ascension with caution and skepticism.
“The party needed change,” Minnesota delegate Asma Mohammed told AFP. “I don’t feel sad about someone who has unapologetically supported a genocidal regime in Israel.”
Mohammed came to Chicago hoping to see a renewed perspective within her party, but she said she is disappointed that the convention has no pro-Palestinian voices on the speaker list.
“I know she’s (Harris) more empathetic than Joe Biden, I’ve seen that,” Mohammed said. “But those words are not enough. That needs to be followed by policy.”
The Uncommitted Movement advocated for adding Tanya Hajj-Hassan to the speaker list, wanting the thousands of attendees to hear from a doctor who has treated victims of the conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas in Gaza.
However, all that has been permitted at the event so far is a panel at the nearby McCormick Center, outside the main venue. During the panel, the pediatrician described the horrors of war, bringing the audience to tears.
Among the speakers slated for the DNC are some relatives of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 when it sparked the conflict by attacking Israel, which also left 1,199 dead, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
“Why does it have to be one or the other?” asked Mohammed, who emphasized that more than 40,000 people have died in Gaza from Israel’s retaliation, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
For her, there is room to listen to both sides.
Jacob Schonberger, a 17-year-old delegate representing the state of Connecticut, is not part of the “Uncommitted Movement” but shares the sentiment. He arrived at the convention wearing buttons with slogans in support of Israel.
“I think it should be leadership’s decision... I have my personal beliefs, but I think that it’s important to have both sides,” he said.
In addition to the “Uncommitted Movement,” protests fomented outside the United Center, the venue for the convention, where hundreds of people chanted “Free Palestine!“
Inside the arena, some delegates covered their mouths as Biden gave his speech Monday night, a gesture made in protest of his response to the war in Gaza.
“We wanted to send the message that we don’t agree with what Biden has been doing,” said Sabrene Odeh, a delegate from Washington state.
While the DNC is underway, Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is on a tour of the Middle East in a new attempt to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas.
Biden acknowledged the discontent with the death toll in Gaza during his speech Monday night.
That did not excite Yaz Kader, another Washington delegate.
“The fact is, he has been a president that has supported a genocide that Israel is committing,” he said.
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Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris
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Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris
Outrage after Trump claims NATO troops avoided Afghan frontline
- Donald Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers died fighting in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks on the US
LONDON: A UK minister said Friday that US President Donald Trump was “plainly wrong” to claim that NATO soldiers did not fight on the front line in Afghanistan, as the claim sparked outrage in Britain.
In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers died fighting in the South Asian country following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told the US outlet.
“And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added.
Trump also repeated his suggestion that NATO would not come to the aid of the United States if asked to do so.
In fact, following the 9/11 attacks, the UK and a number of other allies joined the US from 2001 in Afghanistan after it invoked NATO’s collective security clause.
As well as Britain’s, troops from other NATO ally countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark and others also died.
Care Minister Stephen Kinnock said he expected Prime Minister Keir Starmer would bring the issue up with Trump.
“I think he will, I’m sure, be raising this issue with the president... He’s incredibly proud of our armed forces, and he will make that clear to the president,” he told LBC Radio.
Trump’s comments were “plainly wrong” and “deeply disappointing,” Kinnock told broadcaster Sky News.
“It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” he said.
“And many, many British soldiers and many soldiers from other European NATO allies gave their lives in support of American missions, American-led missions in places like Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added.
Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 in Afghanistan, told The Mirror newspaper that Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting.”
Emily Thornberry, chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, called them “so much more than a mistake.”
“It’s an absolute insult. It’s an insult to 457 families who lost someone in Afghanistan. How dare he say we weren’t on the front line,” the Labour Party politician said on the BBC’s Question Time program on Thursday evening.
According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British casualties who died in Afghanistan were killed in hostile military action.
The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.
In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers died fighting in the South Asian country following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told the US outlet.
“And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added.
Trump also repeated his suggestion that NATO would not come to the aid of the United States if asked to do so.
In fact, following the 9/11 attacks, the UK and a number of other allies joined the US from 2001 in Afghanistan after it invoked NATO’s collective security clause.
As well as Britain’s, troops from other NATO ally countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark and others also died.
Care Minister Stephen Kinnock said he expected Prime Minister Keir Starmer would bring the issue up with Trump.
“I think he will, I’m sure, be raising this issue with the president... He’s incredibly proud of our armed forces, and he will make that clear to the president,” he told LBC Radio.
Trump’s comments were “plainly wrong” and “deeply disappointing,” Kinnock told broadcaster Sky News.
“It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” he said.
“And many, many British soldiers and many soldiers from other European NATO allies gave their lives in support of American missions, American-led missions in places like Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added.
Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 in Afghanistan, told The Mirror newspaper that Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting.”
Emily Thornberry, chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, called them “so much more than a mistake.”
“It’s an absolute insult. It’s an insult to 457 families who lost someone in Afghanistan. How dare he say we weren’t on the front line,” the Labour Party politician said on the BBC’s Question Time program on Thursday evening.
According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British casualties who died in Afghanistan were killed in hostile military action.
The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.
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